When participating in the hiring process, whether for a first job, promotion, or career change, advice for candidates includes suggestions like: 

• Understand your Industry

• Network

• Customize your Application

• Build Skills While you Wait

• Research Potential Employers

• Prepare your Interview Responses

• Be Patient

     This is solid advice, but I believe something is missing, and that is to Prepare your Interview Questions. While there is ample information out there regarding how to craft interview questions and evaluate their responses from an employer/organization standpoint, there is little information for applicants regarding how to craft and ask questions that would assist them in determining whether an employer is the right fit for them. In fact, the attitude seems to be that if an applicant has the gall to turn down a job that they must be entitled or do not actually want to work. In the service industry, until very recently, there have always been more candidates than jobs, and since retail and food service are typically hiring younger, less educated, and less experiences individuals - those candidates often do not have the maturity, self-awareness, or self-confidence to advocate for themselves or walk away from a job.

     A disconnect between the stated and lived values of an individual, organization, or community results in a lack of psychological safety, leading those involved to feel unable to express diverse opinions and challenge the status quo. Polarization increases, and the clarity of the shared vision suffers. Conversely, when we work towards a congruent life, one in which we prioritize consistency among our stated and lived values in all of our environments (home, work, and social), we reap the physical, mental, and emotional rewards. For a deeper dive into the research and literature, take a look at the section below.

    The questions is, how can we effectively determine whether a company, organization, or community is one in which we will experience a true sense of belonging. I believe the key lies within three of the tenets of Servant-Leadership: self-awareness, listening, and foresight. Step 1: determine your core values, Step 2: craft (and ask) value-aligned interview questions during the hiring process, Step 3: deeply listen to the responses as well as the questions you are asked, remember, when people (or an organization) shows you who they are, believe them, and Step 4: utilize foresight to truly evaluate your employment options as well as your potential for belonging within the organizations you are considering, and make a value-based decision.

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Project Deliverables

• Value-aligned interview questions for three categories of prospective employees:

  • Front-line Customer Service

  • Non-Profit Leadership

  • Education Professionals

• Identify five cross-industry interview questions and provide recommendations for crafting value-aligned answers.

  • Initial (phone or in-person) interview

  • First Interview for Potential Management

  • Second/Final Interview for Potential Manager

• Provide literature and theory grounded background.

Objectives & Outcome Goals

Organizational & Community

• Individuals with increased self-awareness are better able to utilize their strengths as well as accept and grow from their weaknesses.

• Employees who seek and prioritize consistency between stated and lived values will experience lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety.

• Organizational benefits of a value-aligned workforce will include an increase in interpersonal trust and mutual respect and the co-creation of a space that is both charged and safe; one with clear boundaries that encourages increased risk-taking and greater diversity of opinions and ideas.

• Organizational culture will move from a buy-in model of shared vision that accepts grudging and formal compliance to an enrollment model with a goal of true commitment.

Personal

• A deeper self-awareness

• Practical application of learned skills including deep listening, strategic & systems thinking, and foresight.

• As a servant-leader-in-training, to prioritize the building of community through encouraging the development of a value-aligned congruent life in myself and others

• To work towards stewardship through developing self-awareness, listening skills and foresight in others.

Indicators or Measures of Success

Invitation to second round interview(s) or beyond

A job offer from an organization with which my values are aligned

Feedback from job seekers who successfully utilize value-aligned interview questions

Competency Integration

ORGL 522: Reflect on and interpret my community experience

ORGL 522: Apply effective interpersonal and small group development & communication skills to facilitate healthy community

ORGL 530: As a servant-leader-in-training, to promote community building, practice listening and foresight, and model a systems thinking capacity.

ORGL 537: Demonstrate a capacity for reflection and applying experience

ORGL 537: Identify and practice pathfinding-foresight and its application as the central ethic of the Servant-Leader philosophy

ORGL 610: Demonstrate decision making informed by applied leadership ethics.

ORGL 615: Understand the multiple factors that shape the design, dynamics, and effectiveness of groups.

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